usquebaugh

"Water of Life" for those who don't speak Gaelic.

Today was a fantastically successful day. This morning we spent our time working at the women's shelter that the Movement runs. It's nice because it is something that we get to do independent from things in a sense and it leaves us with about three hours free before lunch. This is good because Andrew and I have taken a liking to traveling to downtown Santiago to run errands during this free time. The errands today - Scotch and Hats:

After walking a bit aimlessly for a while, we found a liquor store. Here are some of the problems with the liquor stores in Chile. 1) They are small (i.e., not a big selection). 2) Everything is behind the counter. This is horrible if you are like me and just want to be left to your own devices and read various labels. 3) They speak Spanish and I have yet to meet someone who would be able to truly help me on my whisky quest (don't give much hope when the best single malt (only?) is a Glenfiddich 12; nice but overpriced here.

Anyways, this was no good. So we went back to the post office to get directions from a worker there (makes sense right? Who else knows the lay of the land better?). After pointing us off in the right direction we were off and sure enough, easy to find. Now the place he took us wasn't per say a 'liquor store' but it did have the best selection I have seen thus far (again, this is the first place I have seen a single malt here). I've been doing a bit of research on economically feasible blended scotches and at the start had my eyes set on White Horse (an Islay based blend). This was all well and good until I saw Catto's. What's Catto's? I have no idea, I've never heard of it, but for about 2 dollars more, it came with not only a 70cl bottle, but a 4oz flask and another small bottle. Clearly the best deal.

Note on taste - nothing really out of the ordinary. Like many blends, it lacks unique character. Catto's is a highland blend (I did kind of have my hopes up for an Islay) and is sweet, mellow, and fairly smooth. I do think I would take it over Red Label though (Johnnie Red and I had a bit of a falling out in Scotland. After seeing what was out there, he and I both realized that he was simply a pauper dressed as a prince, and a bit of a dick about it). Moral of the story? I now have my scotch fix for a while and found a place I can go to replenish.

What about these hats Jer? Excellent question dear readers. Well, Andrew wanted to pick up a nice leather hat, especially for the 27km pilgrimage we are making on Saturday. After finding the hat store we were taken to a few weeks ago by Rodrigo (think Men's Warehouse for hats), he had trouble with the sizing and I had trouble with the prices. We did learn some key info though - the hats they were pandering were the same hats being sold $20 bucks cheaper at the market. Off we go.

So yes, now I have a bottle of Scotch and genuine leather Chilean/Kind of counts for Australian hat. It's brown and make look awesome. Look forward to pictures!

Oh, and for those who have visited anything touched by the UK - I bought some Milo today. Think weak hot chocolate mix. I'm excited!